Monkey Chicken?

A video showing a chicken with a monkey face went viral on Twitter (or X). This sparked plenty of questions: Is it real? Is it some sort of hybrid animal? Was it caused by some weird human experiments?

Although I couldn’t find a reliable source for the video, it’s clear this is some sort of prank or hoax.

Chickens and monkeys are different species with distinct genetic makeup and physical characteristics.

In nature, genetic mutations can sometimes lead to unusual features or appearances in animals, but the likelihood of a chicken developing a monkey-like face is extremely remote due to the vast genetic differences between these two species. Additionally, inter-species hybrids are typically not viable, meaning they cannot reproduce or survive to adulthood.

Note that the “monkey face” does not move at all during the video, even the eyes are completely motionless. If the “monkey face” were real, you could expect to see at least eye movement. One copy of the video can be found here.

Probable explanation: Someone put a monkey mask over a chicken. Whether or not the monkey mask originated from a decapitated primate remains unclear. But it’s clear that making videos like this could be considered animal abuse.